(2) Daniel Chapter 11, Verses 33, 34, 35 – While completing the last issue, we saw that the past few verses had essentially been talking about the Papacy that arose as the Anti-Christ. These verses continue on that vein and prophesied the events that would happen after the establishment of the Papacy in Rome in 539 A.D. In those times, the Papal Roman Empire was misleading many against the knowledge of the Truth. But this verse prophesied that even in such an environment, those who were wise and mature in the Truth would instruct many on the knowledge about the Truth. Yes, the true Church might seem to have apparently disappeared from the world during the times of the Anti-Christ. But as this verse predicted, it was actually nourished and taken care of in the wilderness i.e. simple unassuming places deemed unworthy to be documented in historical records (Rev 12:6, See Scripture Study – Blossom13:Feb’11,Para03). This verse further prophesied that true Christians would be felled by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. Other biblical sections too confirm that the Anti-Christ would indeed have the power to oppress the Lord’s holy people (Dan 7:21, Rev 17:6). And as predicted, those who refused to accept the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church were subjected to death or imprisonment. This prophecy accurately foretold yet another historical event as well. It forecasted that the true Christians oppressed by the Anti-Christ would receive a little help. Indeed, the Lutheran doctrinal Reformation that arose in 1517 A.D. acquired some amount of freedom for them (See Scripture Study – Blossom 12:Jan’11,Para09). But as this verse further foretold, a lot of those who rose up at that time seemingly appeared as true Christians but were actually people who cleaved to the faithful believers with flatteries (See KJV Dan 11:34) for socio-political reasons. Yes, many who were products of the Lutheran doctrinal Reformation did not really come into the real Truth (See Scripture Study – Blossom13:Feb’11,Para06). As a matter of fact, Luther himself believed in wrong fundamental doctrines. Thus, most of the scores who came out of the Lutheran Reformation to help the true Christians were actually insincere flatterers. And isn’t it amazing that this prophecy foretold this 1000 years ahead? This verse declared that the trials that would come upon the true Christians during the times of the Anti-Christ would be to refine and purify them to make them spotless. And it’s said that these times of trouble would last until the appointed time that is the time of the end. This essentially implies the end times of the second world. From this we know that the end times of the second world would begin with the end of the dominance of the Anti-Christ.
(3) Daniel Chapter 11, Verses 36, 37, 38, 39 – The betrayal of the original faith by the Papacy – the religious Roman king – that was the Anti-Christ is essentially foretold in these verses. Also Paul’s remarks on the Anti-Christ fits with this (2 Thess 2:4, See Grace – Blossom46:Sep’11,Para14). As these verses prophesied, the Popes gave themselves many a title that exalted and magnified themselves above God. They brought about many teachings against the Truth. They amazingly managed to convince the people to accept many outrageous things like idol worship, those that were against the true God Yahweh. It was written in this prophecy that the Anti-Christ would be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for his times would last until all that God has decreed to take place got done. The 37th verse foretold something that further affirms that all these verses were essentially talking about the Roman Catholic way. It says that this king would show no regard for the desire of women. Isn’t it a major aspect of the Catholic way not to marry women? Whereas, the regular kings of the world used to have well-populated harems and used to enjoy relations with many women. This in itself makes it abundantly clear that the king foretold by these verses was not a worldly king, but rather the religious Papal authority that banned relationships with women for its clergy. The phrase ‘god of fortresses’ in verse 38 refers to the earthly fortresses i.e. the power of the worldly authorities. This verse prophesied that this king would honour the might and power of the worldly authorities like high fortresses/armies instead of God. Indeed, even as the Papacy proclaimed itself as a religious government, it did not put its trust in God, but rather believed in keeping armies and kings under its influence. Therefore, the Popes strengthened their hold on power by bribing the worldly authorities with gold and silver that had been originally collected through offerings and also by bestowing honorary titles upon them. Thus, as predicted, the Popes honoured a god unknown to their ancestors. Since the Papacy had come out of the Christian way, its ancestors were essentially the original true Christians who worshipped only the true God. Whereas, the Papacy worshipped the worldly ruling class which was a god essentially unknown to those true Christians. This too confirms that these verses could not be talking about some regular worldly king. How so? Not only worldly kings, but their ancestors too would have very much relied on fortresses i.e. worldly might. Only because this verse did not imply a worldly king, but rather referred to the Papacy that operated as the religious Roman king, it declared that its ancestors i.e. the true Christians did not know/trust such fortresses. Isn’t this a stunning match! Furthermore, what did the Popes do for those worldly authorities who acknowledged them? With the help of the god of this world Satan (‘a foreign god’), they gained influence over all the mighty worldly powers, distributed the land among them and bestowed the right to rule upon them. The Popes joined hands with the worldly ruling class and declared that only the worldly kingdoms that the Papacy recognized were essentially established by God. Thus they gave honour and posts to only those who acknowledged them. In this manner, these verses were exquisitely fulfilled. With these verses, the prophecy on the Papal Anti-Christ ends. The next verse starts describing the happenings of the beginning of the end times. Didn’t we just see at the end of the last paragraph that the dominance of the Anti-Christ would last only until the end times began? Also, from the next verse, the prophecies resume their earlier style of switching between the kings of the North and the South. This is because, during the times of its reign, the Roman Empire had captured and held all the regions of the North and the South that had been separate kingdoms of Syria and Egypt for a long time before. That’s why the last few verses that talked about the Roman Empire and the Papacy that rose within it did not specify any kings of the North/South. But, since the next verse starts to prophetically narrate non-Roman & also later history, it reverts to the earlier seen prophetic style of the using kings of the North/South.
(4) Daniel Chapter 11, Verses 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 – We first have to determine who these verses referred to as the kings of the North/South. Let’s keep in mind that the directions North/South are relative to Jerusalem (See Grace – Blossom 45:Aug’11,Para05). At the peak of its power, the Roman Empire had both the regions to the North and South of Jerusalem under its control. So what we need to find out is which kingdoms controlled the southern Egypt and the northern regions, after the fall of the Roman Empire. Even from the 4th century onward, there were two power centres in the Roman Empire, those being the Western Roman Empire with Rome as its capital and the Constantinople-headquartered Eastern Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire came to an end when Rome was captured by her enemies in 476 A.D. So, what remained was just the Eastern Roman Empire that ruled from Constantinople. This empire was also known as the Byzantine Empire. Egypt was essentially under this Eastern Roman Empire for a long time. But wars that happened during 639 A.D. – 654 A.D. resulted in Islamic forces capturing Egypt. From that point, Egypt continued to remain under many different Islamic kingdoms. Especially in 1517 A.D. the Islamic Ottoman Empire captured Egypt. After that, Egypt remained under the Ottoman Empire up until 1867 A.D. Therefore, we could arrive at a conclusion that the king of the South mentioned in these verses essentially denotes Islamic kingdoms, the Ottoman Empire in particular. That being the case, what could be the kingdom of the North? After the fall of the Roman Empire, many Christian kingdoms arose in the North in Europe. Even as they fought amongst each other, they not only had a sense of unity due to their shared Christianity and Papacy, but they also considered the Islamic kingdoms as their common enemy. Thus, the foes of the southern Islamic kingdoms were the Christian kingdoms that arose in the North. That being the case, what are the events foretold in these verses? A northern kingdom captures the southern Egypt for a little while. But the northern king ultimately ends up being defeated. Thank be to God for He has designed His prophecies in such a way that they would be easy for us to understand. All we need to do is to do a little historical research. Because, an event as described in these verses happened only once in history after Egypt had gone under Islamic control. That was during 1798 A.D. – 1801 A.D. Only at that time, France, one of the Northern kingdoms, under the leadership of Napoleon, captured Egypt and held it for a short period of time. The happenings of those times perfectly match with these verses. Egypt was under the Islamic Ottoman Empire then. Even though the Ottoman Empire had not declared explicit war against France, it was cooperating with France’s enemy, Britain. So, as this prophesy foretold (See NASB Dan 11:40), it was definitely on a collision course against the Northern Napoleon’s aspirations for power. Therefore, as prophesied, in 1798-99 A.D. Napoleon stormed southward with a great army and many ships, captured the southern Egypt and gained control over all her 
treasures of gold and silver. Furthermore, as these verses predicted, he conquered many other countries like Malta and regions of Syria during this period. The map on the left shows the path of Napoleon’s invasion. From that map, we could see that he went through the ‘Beautiful Land’ i.e. the land of the \\\covenant – Israel, as foretold by this prophecy. We also discover that he pitched his tents in Israel to conquer cities like Jaffa. This prophecy further predicted that the regions of Edom/Moab/Ammon would escape from his hand. Truly, doesn’t the map show his armies skipping those areas? What an accurate fulfilment this is! Furthermore, this prophecy predicted that Libyans and Ethiopians would support him (See NASB Dan 11:43). Libya was a kingdom to the west of Egypt. And as foretold, the then Libyan king Yusuf Karamanli Pasha acted in favour of Napoleon. The Ethiopians mentioned here are essentially the people to the south of Egypt. And as this prophecy predicted, during the Napoleonic invasion, Abd-er-Rehman, the king of the region to the south of Egypt – the Darfur Sultanate, was also supportive of Napoleon. This prophecy culminated with the prediction that the Napoleonic invasion would be disturbed by reports from the east and the north and would finally end during a war in the region of Israel. And that’s exactly what happened. Seeing the victories achieved by the Napoleonic forces, the Ottoman Empire sent her armies from the north-east. And on hearing this, as this prophecy foretold, Napoleon set out north-east with his armies in a great rage in 1799 A.D. It was only during this time he travelled through the Beautiful Land of Israel and pitched his tents in the Holy Land. The hill on which he set his camp near the city of Acre, is famously known as Napoleon’s Hill even today. But in the end, helpless against the combined allied forces of the Ottomans and Britain, he was defeated at Acre and retreated back to Egypt. Later in the same year (1799 A.D.) he returned to France, leaving back only a small army in Egypt. And finally in 1801 A.D., Egypt went entirely back into the hands of the Ottoman Empire. In this manner the northern kingdom France’s invasion of the southern Egypt came to an end. Here the phrase ‘he will come to his end’ does not imply Napoleon’s death, but rather indicates his invasion of the southern Egypt coming to an end in the Beautiful Land of Israel. He died later in 1821 A.D. in another place. Even many historians are amazed by the pinpoint precision with which this prophecy was fulfilled. Let us think about this for a moment! Isn’t it incredible and astounding that this prophecy very accurately predicted the actions in history of many countries like France, the Ottoman Empire and Libya, about 2500 years in advance!! We should not miss another point here. In the 35th verse we saw that the dominance of the Anti-Christ Papacy would last until the beginning of the end times of the second world. And here (See NIV Dan 11:40), it’s mentioned that the invasion of the king of the North would happen essentially ‘at the time of the end’. Since that invasion occurred in 1798-1799 A.D., it becomes clear that the end times of the second world began then. In that case, did that time also see the dominance of the Papacy come to an end too? Indeed! And that happened through the very same France. In 1798 A.D. French armies imprison the Pope and drag him out of Rome. And in 1799 A.D. the Pope dies as a lowly prisoner in France. After that, the Popes have never held any real authority or political power even till today. What an exquisite fulfilment this is! Exactly as foretold by this prophecy, at the beginning of the end times in 1798-1799 A.D., both the northern France’s invasion of the southern Egypt and the fall of the Anti-Christ Papal system occurred hand in hand. This bears testimony to the fact that it is only Yahweh God and none other directs mankind’s history. Even thinking non-believers cannot challenge the absolute exquisiteness of such Biblical prophecies. Let glory be to God indeed!
(5) Daniel Chapter 12, Verses 1, 2, 3 – Here it’s said ‘At that time Michael, will arise‘. The phrase ‘At that time’ essentially denotes the end times that we saw at the conclusion of the last chapter. Yes, it’s foretold that during the end times of the second world that began in 1798/99 A.D., Michael, the great prince who protects Daniel’s people i.e. the children of Israel would arise. Michael is yet another name for Jesus (See Grace – Blossom40:Apr’11,Para02). As a matter of fact, the way Michael is described here – as the protector of the children of Israel – makes it abundantly clear that it’s referring to Jesus indeed. Wasn’t he the one who came as the Messiah of the Jews? The rise of Michael basically implies the Second Coming of Jesus. So this verse foretold that the Second Presence of Christ would commence only after the beginning of end times of the second world i.e. 1798/99 A.D. And so was it, as predicted, the times of Christ’s Second Presence began in 1874 A.D. This prophecy further foretold that after the second coming of Christ there would be ‘a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then’. This matches with Christ’s Mount of Olives prophecy where he said that after his second coming there would be a worldwide mourning like never before (Matt 24:29,30). This too was precisely fulfilled. There had been no occurrences in the history of mankind before 1874 when all the nations of the earth had to mourn at the same time. But it is a well-known historical fact that during the two World Wars that happened after 1874, all the nations on earth were affected and all their people mourned. Furthermore, since the whole world is nowadays heavily interlinked due to globalization, economic collapses and epidemics like the H1N1 (swine) flu impact the entire world at once. And they end up making all the nations mourn. Yes, truly we are right in the middle of this time of distress proclaimed by this prophecy. Next, it’s prophesying about the resurrection of ‘your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book’. This refers to the Old Testament Faithful who are to be resurrected on earth as those who had proven themselves to God by living their lives pleasing to Him during the times of the Old Testament. Since Daniel too was one of those Ancient Worthies, the prophecy makes a special mention of it. Next, it predicts that all the people of the world would be resurrected (Aren’t all the people of the world asleep in the dust of the earth?). It prophesies ‘And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt’ (KJV Dan 1:2). Those who would awaken to everlasting life would be the Church, the great multitude and the Old Testament Faithful. Those who would rise to shame and contempt would be the people who indulged in wilful activities against God in their first lives. This in particular applies to some in the Old Testament that had received God’s calling but ended up going off track, like Saul and Solomon. Yes, they would be given another chance. But they would feel self-felt shame and contempt due to the evil they committed in their earlier lives. This shame and contempt would last in their minds forever. In the present times, many live and die without any awareness of God. They won’t be subject to such contempt. That’s why the verse says ‘some’. The people who were called by God during the Old Testament times had an opportunity to awaken as rulers on earth by proving themselves to God in their first lives. But those among them who fell away from the right path, when they rise from the dead, would feel shame and contempt as they think about how they lost such a great opportunity by their wicked deeds. Even if they eventually achieve eternal life by using their second chance, wouldn’t a little of their first life’s shame continue to remain in their hearts? Furthermore, as prophesied here, the wise resurrected Church would shine like the brightness of the heavens, would lead many to righteousness and would shine like the stars for ever and ever. Yes, this is something that is to happen in the Kingdom of Heaven. Right now, we are in the time of distress that came after the rise of Michael i.e. Jesus. Very soon, as this verse proclaims, the resurrection and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven are to happen. We saw how precisely the earlier portions of this prophecy got fulfilled. So there is no need for any inkling of doubt that these things too would be wholesomely accomplished.
(6) Daniel Chapter 12, Verses 4, 5, 6, 7 – The angel declares this prophecy is to be rolled up and to remain sealed until the time of the end. After that, he says, many would go here and there to do study and research, resulting in an increase of knowledge and that’s when they would understand this prophecy. Didn’t we see that the end times of the second world began in 1798/1799 A.D.? The seal on this prophecy was opened up only after that. Furthermore, starting 1799 A.D., the end time increase in knowledge that was foretold in this verse has been happening in all fields with a great increase in historical, scientific and biblical knowledge. In present days, people run here and there daily in pursuit of education and research (See Grace – Blossom33:Sep’10,Paras05,06). Next, Daniel sees two angels, one on each bank of the river. Apart from those two, there was another who was clothed in linen and stood above the waters of the river. Then one of the angels on the banks of the river asks the one above the waters, ‘How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?’ Essentially he is asking how long it would take for the astonishing things prophesied in the previous verses, like the rise of Michael and the resurrection, to be fulfilled. The angel clothed in linen replies, ‘It will be for a time, times and half a time’. He adds that the astonishing things would be completed ‘as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people” i.e. when the times of trouble undergone by the saints is completed (See NASB Dan 12:7). As the NIV bible’s footnote for this verse indicates, ‘a time, times and half a time’ is a Hebrew phrase that means ‘a year, two years and half a year‘. Essentially it means 3.5 years. Usually in prophetic interpretations, a day means a year (Eze 4:5,6). Here too, if we tried to literally interpret it as 3.5 years, wouldn’t that mean all these were to be fulfilled during Daniel’s lifetime itself? The Jewish calendar year has 360 days. So, 3.5 years mean 1260 days. Those 1260 days essentially represent 1260 years. The next question is: 1260 years from which point of time? The answer too lies in that angel’s reply. How so? The angel does not just say it would take 1260 years and leave it at that. He provides another sign to watch out for the fulfilment of the astonishing things. That sign is the end of the times of trouble undergone by the saints. This makes it clear that the end of the times of trouble for the saints and the end of this 1260 years would coincide. The times of trouble undergone by the saints when their power was shattered were indeed the times of the Anti-Christ’s dominance. We earlier saw that this dominance came to an end in 1799 A.D. That means this 1260 years too should have ended the same year. In that case, if we walk back 1260 years from 1799 A.D., we arrive at 539 A.D. What a surprise! Wasn’t that the year we saw in our Daniel Chapter 11 study as the year when the Papacy was established as the abomination that causes desolation? (See Grace – Blossom46:Sep’11,Para14). From this, it’s obvious that the 1260 years essentially indicate the times of dominance of the Anti-Christ. In certain other sections of the Bible this has been declared rather explicitly (See Daniel 7:25, Rev 13:5). Therefore, this angel foretells that the rise of Michael i.e. Jesus would happen after the times of reign of the Anti-Christ. Paul too has concurred with this as he declared that the second coming of Jesus would only occur after the times of the man of lawlessness in his second letter to the Thessalonian church (2 Thess 2:3,4). Likewise, the times of the Anti-Christ that began in 539 A.D. ended exactly after 1260 years in 1799 A.D. Only after that, the rise of Michael happened in 1874 A.D. But, how could we say that Christ’s second presence happened in 1874 A.D.? Let us study further.
(7) Daniel Chapter 12, Verses 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 – Since Daniel did not understand the meaning of this prophecy, he asks the angel what would be the outcome of all this. By ‘all this’ Daniel means the events foretold by the angel in the previous verses concerning the end of the times that followed the reign of Anti-Christ. So Daniel is essentially asking what would happen during that period. The angel answers Daniel by telling him to go his way and that these prophetic words would remain rolled up and sealed until the time of the end i.e. 1799 A.D. After that, he says, the wise, who would be purified, made spotless and refined, would understand these words. He further adds that for such an understanding to happen, 1290 days would have to pass after the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is setup. We earlier saw that 539 A.D. was the year when Jesus, the daily sacrifice was removed and in his place the Papacy that is the abomination that causes desolation was established by Roman armies. So, 1290 days after that would come the time when the wise would start to understand the concealed words of this prophecy – a time of understanding, of the end time increase in knowledge. We know that a day represents a year in this prophecy. So, 1290 years from 539 A.D. brings us to 1829 A.D. So this prophecy essentially foretold that the wise would start to understand its own full meaning only after that year. Yes, it was the Adventist Movement that began in 1830/31 A.D. that first managed to rightly figure out the prophetic section on the times of the Anti-Christ. After that, the concealed words of this prophecy have been unravelled step by step, and today we are able to clearly understand it in its entirety. We should notice another thing. If for argument’s sake the 1260 days we saw earlier in this prophecy and the 1290 days mentioned here had meant just literal days, wouldn’t the 1290 days just imply 30 literal days after the 1260 days? But, as we saw in Chapter 11, after the Papacy is established as the abomination that causes desolation, it has to commit many treacherous and wicked acts. And the Napoleonic invasion also needs to happen. Is there even a chance for such huge events to occur within a span of 1290 literal days? Not really. And this does affirm our determination that a day represents a year in this prophecy. Next, the angel says, ‘Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1335 days’. What does he mean? Didn’t the beginning of this chapter mention the rise of Michael? That was the astonishing thing. And Daniel asked what would be the outcome of that. So, the 1335 days should essentially lead to the beginning of the times of the Second Presence of Jesus Christ. Even Christ says, blessed are those who wait awake and alert to reach the time of his presence – ‘Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.’ (NASB Luke 12:36, 37). So it becomes clear that the blessedness that comes after the 1335 days is essentially the reaching of the times of the Second Presence of Christ. Those times might be a dangerous period that brings about worldwide mourning for the people of the earth. But isn’t it indeed a blessed time for we who are his Church! The people of the world would not and have not recognized its beginning. Doesn’t it come just as a time of destruction for them? But the Church on the other hand, would sense it and be blessed by it. Apostle Paul explains this too (1 Thess 5:1-5). In that case, since the calculations for both the 1260 and 1290 years were based upon 539 A.D., shouldn’t this 1335 year math – which is essentially a continuation of those two calculations – also begin at the same year? 1335 years from 539 A.D. brings us to 1874 A.D. Yes, so we can conclude that it was the year the Second Presence of Christ began. We might remember studying in an earlier issue of Grace how this assertion is also confirmed by many more unambiguous signs provided in various other places in the Bible (See Grace – Blossom 22:Nov’09). Furthermore, as declared by this prophecy and Luke 12:36 & 37, there is no doubt that we as the people who came after the beginning of those times, are indeed a blessed people being served with many a spiritual truth by the returned Christ. As Paul says, it is the people of the world who failed and continue to fail to recognize the time of the Second Presence of Christ. Finally, the angel concludes the prophecy by telling Daniel that he would rest (in the sleep of death), and then at the end of the days he would rise back to receive his allotted inheritance as an Old Testament Faithful (which would be eternal life and the authority to be a ruler on earth).
(8) We studied this lengthy prophecy in detail across three issues. And weren’t we amazed! Yes, prophetic sections might require us to spend a considerable amount of time in their study. Many among us tend to get lost in confusion by just studying them superficially. Some are actually afraid to even study them by themselves. And some others do not give any importance to them. But in reality, when we study them verse-by-verse, comparing with history, prophecies reinforce our faith by leaps and bounds. Prophetic knowledge is very essential, especially for us who are the Church of the End Times. So we want to motivate each and every one to embark on in-depth prophetic studies. That’s why we continuously undertake such efforts in our issues of Grace and Scripture Study. We pray to Yahweh God that our efforts would kindle you towards studying prophecies based on their contexts, with thoroughness and great zeal! Amen.